Rune Factory: An art
by Ghostly Bonds
Summary: This is a collection of "One-Off's" about the game "Rune Factory 4" for the Nintendo 3DS. Review if you would like, and feel free to correct any spelling/grammatical/formatting mistakes on my part. I have attempted to reduce those to a minimum, but anything can happen.


**Hello there. I recently decided to write FanFiction for this specific game (Rune Factory 4 for the Nintendo 3DS) because I like the characters and sometimes the dialogue within it is somewhat... lack luster. I choose not to rewrite scenes but to create my own. None of the characters are mine, and "Lest" for those who are unaware is the default name for the male character in said video game.**

 **I hope you all enjoy it, and remember, this is a series of things many people call "One-shot"'s, but I prefer the term "One-Off"'s. Thanks for reading, and enjoy, friends.**

* * *

Lest/Clorica

"Mhm, so sleepy..." Clorica let out a loud yawn in the middle of pouring some Relax Tea for Lest. He had grown a liking for it over time, and had admitted Volkanon's was quite good, but he told her that he thought hers was the best. She remembered it like it was yesterday... or was it a dream? It could have been a dream! "W-woah!" she exclaimed as the tea over-filled the cup, leaking out on to the floor. "Oh darn!" she exclaimed, then looked at her soaked pants, the butler letting out a yelp of surprise and pain due to the heat of said tea.

"Hey, Clorica, have you seen- woah. You alright?" a voice came from the doorway to the farm into the chambers of the small palace's three servants. Lest, his clothes somewhat brown from the dirt and grime of the outdoor world, quickly jogged over to the purple-haired girl. "Looks like you spilled something. Need some help?" he asked, looking inquisitively at her. Clorica nodded sleepily, her face red with embarrassment.

"Oh, I wish you didn't have to see me like this..." she said, accepting the paper towels she was handed by the false prince to wipe off her wet legs, as he grabbed a mop and began to clean up the rest of the spilled tea.

After they had cleaned up the mess, Lest wiped his brow, the heat from the outside as well as just farming and cleaning up making him break a small sweat. "Well, looks like there's plenty still in the cup. Seems you can enjoy your tea now, Clorica." he said, chuckling, turning to walk out.

"H-hey, Lest?" Clorica said meekly, as Lest turned to face her once more. "I-I made this... for y-you." she said, spitting out the last part. What was this..? Her heart was beating faster? Why though? All she did was make him some tea.

"Oh, is it? Great! You know I love your Relax Tea the best." he said, taking a few steps towards the tea, then looking down and suddenly realizing his own appearance. "Heh, sorry. Not the cleanest myself." he said, his cheeks a rosy red, his heart beating faster, suddenly worrying about his appearance. He then grabbed the tea cup and took a small sip, the heat somehow... refreshing, even in this weather. "Thanks a million, Clorica. Oh! Right, have you seen Volkanon around anywhere?" he asked, remembering why he came in here in the first place.

"Ummm..." Clorica said, thinking. "I think I saw him..." she trailed off.

"...Clorica?" Lest said inquisitively, wondering if the heat plus the thick butler suit might have been getting to her.

"Zzz..." she let out a soft snore, her eyes closed.

Lest thought about trying to wake her up, but just smiled and tip-toed out of the room, leaving her to nap.

* * *

"Excuse me, Prince?" came a voice from the front entrance to his chambers.

"Ah, Vishnal, come on in." Lest replied, waving him in with a smile. "If I may, what're you doing around here? It's 8 o'clock at night." said the Prince, still smiling, but also scribbling in his diary.

"Ha, yes, it is late. But it's... it's about Clorica." he said, taking a ginger step forward and shutting the door gently behind him, but before he realized it, Lest was up and ready, grabbing his dual blades.

"What about her? Is she okay?" he asked, an obvious tone of worry laced in his voice as he fumbled in his attempt to grab the blades without dropping them.

"Y-yes, she's fine, she's asleep in her chambers." Vishnal said nervously, a weak smile on his face to attempt to calm the prince. "But... lately she's been distracted."

"Isn't she always?" came a curious reply from Lest.

"Well, yes, but... even more so. She's not sleeping when she's distracted, she's actively awake and thinking. Not that it's bad, but... she's making mistakes that a novice would make, and some of her food is simply inedible lately."

"Like yours?" Lest said without thinking. "I-I mean-"

"N-no, I understand. I have a lot to learn, Prince, it's okay." Vishanl replied, swallowing and giving a disheartened chuckle. "But, uh, I'm here to ask you to report any kind of activity you see her doing that might lead to this. I mean, she has a right to her privacy but if it's affecting her work then I'll take it upon myself to help fix it."

"R-right... hey, have you ever thought to ask her what's going on?"

"Yes, but she won't say a word about it." the blue-haired butler replied, shaking his head. "I'll send her to gather your shipment tomorrow."

Lest nodded, waving Vishnal on his way to get some shut-eye and so he could catch some of his own sleep.

* * *

"Nothing beats a good day's work." Lest said to himself after having tended to his animals and putting the seasonal crops into the shipment box. He looked at his pocket-watch that he had purchased from Bado. It was supposed to be able to spring open with one simple thought and motion of his finger, but all it took was the button being pressed. He sold it for cheap, so he figured a crud watch is better than no watch. At least, not until Raven remembered to bring one for him.

And it was now 8 o'clock in the morning, with Clorica being right on time. Instead of giving his usual brief wave, he instead walked over to her, his heartbeat increasing slightly as he did so. "Hey, Clorica!" he said, storing his seeds in his rucksack.

"Oh, hello Lest." Clorica said, her voice somewhat quieter than normal. "What can I do for you?"

"Oh, nothing. I just wanted to talk to you, that's all." Lest said, smiling, wondering how best to approach this.

"O-oh, I see..." the sleep-addicted girl said, the basket in her arm full of the produce. "Well... lovely w-weather we're having, huh?"

"Sure is. Y'know, Clorica..." he started, deciding it was best to just come on out with it as she tilted her head slightly in question. "Vishnal and I were talking last night and we noticed that you've been more distracted than usual lately. Is everything okay?" he asked, making sure concern could be heard in his voice.

Clorica blushed like mad, though knew she could pin it off on the summer sun. "U-uh, no, n-nothing's wrong, why do you ask, ha ha ha?" she said, giving a small nervous laugh at the end.

"Are you sure?" Lest asked, taking a small step towards her. "You can talk to me about anything, you know." he added, smiling and also planning to blame the sun for his blood-filled cheeks.

"H-Honestly, everything's fine, I've just been... j-just been... t-thinking a-about..." she almost couldn't bring herself to say it and her face was as red as the tomatoes in that basket. Lest was waiting patiently for her to finish up her sentence, curiosity sprawled on his face. "M-more about... y-you..." she prounounced her last words quietly, in a whisper so that Lest almost couldn't hear them.

"...A-about me?" he asked, momentarily stunned by her statement.

"Y-yes... I-I... I like you a lot, L-Lest..." she said, not being able to look at the man in front of her.

"W-Well... I, uh... How about..." Lest said, grabbing her hands gently in his, smiling as she looked at him in surprise. "How a-about we meet up in front of the palace tomorrow, t-then?" he asked, swallowing hard. "W-we can go to Porco's restuarant, if you w-want..."

"Yes!" Clorica exclaimed, then covered her own mouth in surprise of what she had said. "I-I mean... I'd love to." she said, smiling at him.

"Well then," started Lest, grinning wide, "It's a date."


End file.
